Door for freight carrying vehicles



June 15, 1943. J. J. BLACK 2,322,083

DOOR FOR FREIGHT CARRYING VEHICLES Filed May 5, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY! June 15', 1943.

J. ,1. BLACK DOOR FOR FREIGHT CARRYING VEHICLES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 5, 1941 |||.i a |1% III III! |||l Iii- 1- .1! 1i: mmnu. PH-.. 29 H 5 02 INVENTOR. BY, W I W 'y fq-Ffimw Patented June 15, 1 943 usrrso STAT NT CFFICE James J. Black, Cinc mesne assignments,

This invention relates generally to roll-up doors and is particularly directed to an improved roll-up door of the type utilized at the back of freight-carrying vehicles, such as trucks or trailers.

These doors, although flexible for rolling, necessarily have to be rigid enough to withstand the twisting and strain that come from the swaying of the body of the truck. In the past, hinged sections of ribbed or corrugated sheet metal have been tried for the doors. Corrugated metal proved to be fairly rigid, but also provided a number of depressions and corners on the inside of the door which caught under boxes of freight and jammed the door.

It has been an object of the present inventor to provide a new and improved roll type of door, which door is substantially flat on the inside so that there are no irregularities which may engage the articles in the load thereby to catch and jam the door.

Another object has been to provide a new and novel construction for doors of this type which possesses greater rigidity than those of the past.

Another object has been to provide a new and novel means for hinging the panels of the door together and journalling the guide rollers.

Although the roll-up door has many advantages and is used quite extensively for packagecarrying vehicles, its main disadvantage has been that packages of freight sometimes fall against it and jam it, thereby preventing opening. In the past, it has been the practice, when this happened, to take the door jamb apart, remove the track in which the guide rollers for the door run, and then swing the door outwardly and upwardly to gain access to the inside of the truck.

Therefore, it has been an object of the present inventor to'provide a jamb construction for the door which is quickly displaced for fully releasing the door in the event that the door is jammed due to the pressure of the load against the inside of the door or due to the location of articles in 7 positions blocking door movement. In the fulfillment of this objective, the guide for the rollers of the door may be sectional so that it may be split to permit movement of the door directly outwardly for relieving the blocking pressure prior to lifting the door. In one embodiment of the invention the door jamb may be hinged for swinging movement outwardly.

A further object has been to provide a cap or shield for the hinges and rollers at the inside innati, Ohio, assignor, by to The Fifth Third Union Trust Company, Cincinnati, Ohio Application May 5, 1941, Serial No. 391,867

6 Claims. (01. 160-195) of the door to prevent objects from jamming against them.

Briefly, the concept of the inventor hasjbeen, in one phase, to provide a strongly constructed, distortion resistant roll-up door having a sub stantially smooth inner face and, in a second phase, to install the door so that it can never be jammed shut by packages falling against it on the inside of the truck.

The structure of the sectional door disclosed herein is described and claimed in a divisional application filed Oct. '13, 1942, and bearing Serial No. 461,869.

Other objects and certain advantages will be more fully apparent from the following description of the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the back end of a truck in which a roll-up door embody-- ing the present invention has been installed.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on line 6-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary View of the inside of the door showing the hinge and roller arrangement.

Figure 6 is a sectional view similar to Figure 2 showing the door partially rolled up.

present invention comprises a number of rein- Generally, the roll-up door embodying the present invention comprises a number of reinforced panels which are hinged together and provided with rollers so that the door can be rolled up overhead on a guide track. The particular door shown in the drawings comprises six panels. The panels are substantially identical. Each one comprises (Figures 4 and 5) a pair of vertical end channels l0l0 and a corrugated body portion ll. Preferably, the panels are formed from sheet metal by stamping. A distinct advantage to the structure as disclosed here is that it lends itself to spot welding, which is preferred because of its strength and because it permits rapid assembly.

The upper edge of each panel is bent down and reversely bent to constitute a lip i2 of double thickness and therefore, a strengthened channel. The corrugations may be square as shown in Figure 4. Atthe lower edge of the panel a flange I3 is turned outwardly at right angles to the body of the panel. At the outer edge of the flange, a lip M of double thickness is formed and extends downwardly therefrom to constitute a Weatherstrip when the sections are assembled.

It can be seen from Figure 2 that the lower flange extends outwardly beyond the line of the panel so that when the panels are assembled, one above the other, the lip l4 extends down on the outside to overlap the next lower panel to provide a rain-proof cover for the crack between the hinged panel sections. The flanges of the vertical end channels l 6-!!! extend toward the center of the door and the edges of the door are enclosed thereby; the lower flange I3 being the only part of the panel which extends outwardly beyond the channels.

At the inside face of the panels the channels or grooves 15, which would normally exist at the corrugations, are covered by plates I6. The plates are countersunk into the panel and welded into seats provided by shoulders Il-ll formed on both sides of each corrugation. Each plate is installed so that its inside face is in the same plane as the inside face of the panel portions between the corrugations. This construction not only provides a substantially flush, flat surface for the inside of the door, but constitutes a very strong structure capable of withstanding distortion as the body sways when the vehicle is driven around sharp bends in the road.

The panels are hinged together at the joints between the panels; a pair of hinges being utilized, one on each side, on the inner face of the door at each joint between the sections. The hinges are indicated at IS. The upper leaf 23 of the hinge may be riveted, welded, or bolted to an upper panel portion and the lower leaf 2! similarly fastened to a lower panel portion. Referring to Figure 3, a hollow hinge pin 24 is utilized. The hollow hinge pin constitutes the journal for an axle 22 for the guide roller 23. The axle 22 extends beyond the side of the door and is free to slide axially in the hollow pin 24 to allow for Variations in the track in which it runs.

Referring again to Figure 3, the side wall of the vehicle is indicated generally at 26, the rear side post at 2'', the outer door jamb section at 28, and the inner jamb section at 29. The inner jamb section 29 consists of a channel portion 30 and a shield portion 31. The outer flange of the channel 30, indicated at 32, is fixed to the side wall 26 with the channel extending rearwardly to abut the side post 21. The shield portion 3| is an inward angular extension of the other flange, indicated at 33, of the channel 30. The shield 3i extends toward the center of the door and is bent rearwardly and then. outwardly to form a channel 34 for enclosing the rollers and hinges.

The track 35, in which the guide rollers run, is split. The inner part is rolled over at its forward end to constitute a groove 36. The outer part is constituted by a flange 31 bent inwardly from the forward end of the outer side wall of the outer jamb section 28. The flange 3'! therefore keeps the rollers in the groove.

The track is split only on the vertical run. At the top of the track where it curves and turns to run along the top of the truck a conventional one piece track may be utilized. Also, the shield 29 may be discontinued at the upper end of the track because at this point, indicated at 38 in Figure 2, there is no danger of packages jamming the hinges.

A conventional counterweight comprising a pair of coil spring-urged reels, may be installed above the door-opening in the recess provided by the turn in the tracks. One of the reels is indicated at 39 and is mounted on brackets 40 which are fastened to the back of the truck body above the door-opening. The cables from the two reels extend downwardly from the reels inside of the hollow jamb sections 28 and are fastened to the bottom of the door on eyebolts or studs indicated at 4|, Figure 3.

The outer jamb section 28 comprises a channel having one side wall 42 abutting the post 2'! and having the other side wall 28 extending forwardly and turned inwardly for strength to enclose the side edge of the door as at 43. The jamb sections thus provide slots in which the door moves. The jamb section 28 is pivotally journalled at its upper end on a hinge 44 which is fastened to the cross piece at the top of the door opening. Each jamb section 28 is normally held in place relative to the post 21 by a keeper pin 45. The keeper pin extends through appropriate apertures in the lower ends of the two walls or flanges of the jamb sections and through apertures in the side post 27 and is held therein by a nut or by a cotter key 45. If for any reason the door becomes caught and cannot be rolled up, the keeper pins 45 of both outer jamb sections can be removed and the jamb sections swung upwardly with the whole door, thus permitting clearance of the door from the load and access to the interior of the vehicle. A keeper pin similar to the pin 45 may be installed at the upper end of each jamb in place of the hinge 44. In this way the whole jamb may be removed.

The structure utilizing the hinge pin 44 at the top and a removable latch pin at the bottom is the preferred embodiment but, as stated, the upper hinge pin may be removed if the operator desires.

The environment of the door is not described in detail here. A conventional lock and handle may be provided, the parts may be cushioned or insulated against vibrations, and a heavy base bar may be fixed to the bottom of the lowermost panel. These details will be apparent to one skilled in the art and can be arranged to fit specific installations.

The door embodying the invention constitutes a rigid structure capable of withstanding rough usage over a long period. Larger loads can be handled in the truck because there is no danger of the door jamming if freight shifts and falls against it. Because of its relatively simple construction it lends itself to production methods of manufacture. Although the above description has been directed to a truck door, it will be apparent that the door has many other adaptations. The door may be insulated against heat by rock wool or some other similar material by packing the channels at the inside of the door beneath the plates |Bl6 and packing the space in between the channels on the outside of the door. In this instance, an appropriate covering material may be utilized on the outside of the door by fastening it to the outer faces of the channels and rubber strips could be used in the cracks between the panels to close them.

I claim:

1. A mounting for a sliding door of the roll-up type having guide rollers, comprising jamb sections, inner and outer respectively at a side of the door, said sections defining a guide slot for the door, said jamb sections jointly providing a track for the guide rollers, said outerjamb section carrying the rear wall of the track, and means for displaceably mounting the outer jamb section for bodily movement of the entire jamb section, whereby it may be quickly displaced for releasing the door directly rearwardly in the event that merchandise becomes lodged against the inside of the door, preventing its sliding motion.

2. In a sliding door construction including the door mounting; said door comprising a series of horizontally disposed sections provided with guide rollers spaced along said door, hinges connecting said sections, said hinges disposed on the interior surfaces of said sections, means for guiding said door for vertical sliding movement comprising jamb sections, inner and outer respectively at a side of the door, said sections defining a guide slot, the inner jamb section including a vertically disposed cover for said hinges, said jamb sections jointly providing tracks for the guide rollers, said outer jamb section carrying the rear wall of the track, and means for mounting the rear jamb section, whereby it may be quickly displaced for releasing the door directly rearwardly in the event that merchandise becomes lodged against the inside of the door, preventing its sliding motion.

3. A door construction, comprising a roll-up door comprising sections disposed horizontally, hinges joining said sections, guide rollers extended from a side edge of the door, inner and outer j amb sections at a side of the door providing a guideway for the door, said inner jamb section providing a cover for the hinges and rollers on the inside of the door, and the outer jamb section being removable to permit direct rearward displacement of the sliding door.

4. An improved door and doorway construction comprising a door consisting of horizontal sections hinged together, rollers projecting from the side edges of said sections, a track at a side of the door for said rollers, an inner jamb section including the track for said rollers and including a cover encasing the rollers and the hinges, an outer jamb section including means overhanging the door and a retainer disposed relative to the roller track for retaining the rollers in the track, and means holding said outer jamb section in position, said means being quickly operable for releasing the outer jamb section to permit direct outward movement of the door in the event that it is jammed by pressure on the inside.

5. Means for mounting a door of the roll-up type, comprising guide means for an edge of the door for guiding the door in its vertical sliding motion, and a detachable connecting device associated with said guide means facilitating outward displacement of the door in the event that the door becomes jammed.

6. A door construction including a door frame, comprising jamb sections, inner and outer respectively at a side of the door, a sliding door having a side edge disposed between the jamb sections for vertical sliding movement, said jamb sections jointly providing a vertically split track for the side edge of said sliding door, a horizontally disposed pivot for the outer jamb section, said pivot located at the upper portion of the door frame, whereby the outer jamb section may be swung outwardly and latching means for detachably securing the lower end of the jamb section relative to the door frame.

JAMES J. BLACK. 

